Sources of funding, bursaries and Disabled Students' Allowances (DSAs)

If you are applying for a course with ICE, there are a number of funding opportunities which you may be eligible for:

• Bursaries
• Hardship fund
• Disabled Students' Allowances (DSAs)
• Other sources of support
• Student loans

Bursaries for part-time study:

We know that for many potential adult students, paying for the costs of studying at a leading university like Cambridge can be challenging. We have a number of different bursary schemes on offer to help remove or reduce this potential barrier to learning. 

Each year we offer a range of different bursary schemes to eligible students who wish to study selected courses with the Institute of Continuing Education (ICE).

Details of current bursary award schemes, application deadlines and information about how to apply are available on this website.

Find out more.

Please check the website regularly for updates as we frequently launch new bursary opportunities.
 

Disabled Students' Allowances (DSAs):

If you are a UK student on a course that could enable you to apply for a student loan and you have a disability, mental health condition or specific learning differences which affects your ability to study, you may be able to apply for a Disabled Student's Allowance (DSA).

The DSA is designed to help you buy or rent equipment to aid you in your studies or to pay for the services of support workers to assist you.

Any previous study will not affect your eligibility for DSAs, even if you received financial support. There is no age limit on receiving DSAs.

You can find further information on eligibility and the types of support on the Disabled Students' Allowances (DSAs) guide - on the GOV.UK website.

If you are eligible and would like to apply for a DSA, we would advise for you to do this as early as possible as processing can take up to 16 weeks to receive support. If you would like an informal chat about DSA, please contact us at da@ice.cam.ac.uk.
 

Other sources of support:

You may also apply to the University's Access to Learning Fund which administers limited funds provided by the government to relieve financial hardship that might impact upon a student's participation in higher education.

The fund cannot normally be used to meet the cost of tuition fees but can provide additional financial help to meet other course-related costs.

You can find details of other sources of government funding and financial support, including Professional and Career Development Loans, on the GOV.UK website.

A variety of individual grants are available from grant-making trusts. You can usually consult the Directory of Grant Making Trusts at your local library.

In some instances, your employer may be willing to offer you financial support for your personal and professional development.
 

Student loans:

Undergraduate loans:

Part-time students living in England and applying to study one of Undergraduate Certificates, Undergraduate Diplomas or Undergraduate Advanced Diplomas may be able to apply for a Student Loan from Student Finance England. These loans are for tuition fee costs only. None of our undergraduate courses are eligible for a Part-Time Maintenance Loan.

If you receive a tuition fee loan, the funds will be paid directly to the Institute of Continuing Education.

Please note that you will not be eligible for a loan if you are studying for a lesser or equivalent qualification to one you already have. Student loans only cover one course per year.

Information on how to apply for these loans can be found on the GOV.UK website: Student finance: how to apply.

As loans can take some time to process, we ask you to pay a small deposit to secure your place on the course. Please apply as soon as you can as your deposit cannot be refunded until the funds are received. 

You can start the course even if your loan hasn’t been received by us by the start date, however you will be liable for the full fee (normally paid in instalments) if you are unsuccessful in securing a student loan. 

If after 2 weeks from your course start date, your loan has not been confirmed or proof of application has not been sent to the student financing team (studentfinancing@ice.cam.ac.uk), you will automatically revert on to our standard instalment plan. 

Postgraduate loans:

Students applying to study a Postgraduate Certificate or Postgraduate Diploma are NOT eligible for either a tuition fee loan, or a Part-Time Maintenance Loan from Student Finance England.

Students applying to study for an MSt MAY be eligible for a Master's Loan. You must normally be living in England. Other eligibility criteria apply and full detail can be found on the GOV.UK website: Master’s loan. You’ll only have to apply once, even if your course is longer than one year.